A Realistic View of 2024: Part II

[notin]

We saw so many pitchers signed to minor league deals that we could have signed to a min MLB deal, so Whitlock could stay in the pen (instead of Joely or Campbell.)

 

Hopefully one or two of them have upward mobility clauses that they exercise on May 1.

[moonslav59]

Hopefully one or two of them have upward mobility clauses that they exercise on May 1.

 

Like we are going to grab one, then?

 

[mvp 78]

I keep hearing the Red Sox have spent in the past, and I keep responding the same way. This IS NOT the same JH who used to spend in the past. What the Red Sox did in the past you have to let it go. Those were the Good old days.

 

What has changed about him? Is it just that he has finally surrounded himself with yes men? Clearly, he wanted a Billy Beane type back in '02 that knew how to compete without spending.

[moonslav59]

CBS Sports lists these ETA dates:

 

April 17: Devers, Martin

April 18: O'Neill

April 21: Whitlock, Romy G

April 23: Grissom, Refsnyder

April 26: Pivetta

April 27: Campbell

May 1: Mata

 

August 1: Hendriks

 

2025: Story, Giolito, Murphy, Fulmer

 

[mvp 78]

Again, 50 games since 2020. If your problem is injuries, Mondesi is not the solution. Just like he wasn’t last year…

 

I don't believe Adalberto is a solution either. I was just stating the facts.

[Old Red]

What has changed about him? Is it just that he has finally surrounded himself with yes men? Clearly, he wanted a Billy Beane type back in '02 that knew how to compete without spending.

 

I can’t say what changed with JH. He does have a lot more interest, and adventures than he did when he first bought the Red Sox. He used to say LL ran the Red Sox, and now it’s Sam, which could be a problem in itself

[moonslav59]

What has changed about him? Is it just that he has finally surrounded himself with yes men? Clearly, he wanted a Billy Beane type back in '02 that knew how to compete without spending.

 

Also, he was called out, a few times, for going a few years without spending to "get us over the hump" or "make us respectable" in the past (including before 2013.)

 

This may be a longer low spending stretch than others in the past, but nobody knows for sure.

 

In terms of spending, he did extend Devers, and has not really dipped for that long of a stretch (end or 2020 to Story & Devers deals) and post Devers deal. What has happened is that several other owners jumped their spending by a huge amount, and JH did not keep up with them. He has not stopped spending for more than 2 years in a row, that I know of, in his 20 years, here. In that sense, not much has changed, yet.

[Bellhorn04]

I can’t say what changed with JH. He does have a lot more interest, and adventures than he did when he first bought the Red Sox. He used to say LL ran the Red Sox, and now it’s Sam, which could be a problem in itself

 

JH is going to prove he did the right thing dumping DD and Mookie if it kills us.

[mvp 78]

@jcmccaffrey

Cora on WEEI also said Whitlock is still getting checked out for the oblique

 

They did it!

[Old Red]

@jcmccaffrey

Cora on WEEI also said Whitlock is still getting checked out for the oblique

 

They did it!

 

I’ve been saying for the last three years that Whit should stay in the BP. The only year out of the last 4 that he stayed healthy was when he pitched out of the pen, and for the most part had 2-3 days between appearances. Coincidence?

[Old Red]

JH is going to prove he did the right thing dumping DD and Mookie if it kills us.

 

The curse of the Bambino lasted for nearly 100 years, and now you’ve got the curse of Mookie.

[notin]

I’ve been saying for the last three years that Whit should stay in the BP. The only year out of the last 4 that he stayed healthy was when he pitched out of the pen, and for the most part had 2-3 days between appearances. Coincidence?

 

Every single person on this board has been saying that. And probably everyone on all the other thousands of Red Sox forums throughout the internet..

[dgalehouse]

Bloom will be remembered as the young genius who traded Mookie Betts. The question is: Did John Henry order him to do it ?

[notin]

Bloom will be remembered as the young genius who traded Mookie Betts. The question is: Did John Henry order him to do it ?

 

Obviously. Or at least he was given the option of trade him or let him walk via free agency.

 

DD tried to extend Betts. As DD is not one to hold back on negotiations, what Betts wanted/deserved was clearly more than Henry was willing to pay...

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Bloom will be remembered as the young genius who traded Mookie Betts. The question is: Did John Henry order him to do it ?

 

The question is: Did John Henry hire him to do it ?

[moonslav59]

Bloom will be remembered as the young genius who traded Mookie Betts. The question is: Did John Henry order him to do it ?

 

It is known that DD was about to trade Betts back in 2019, but a winning stretch forced the idea to be tabled.

 

I think it is a safe bet to think there is no way DD wanted to trade Betts, so I think that is enough evidence, for me, to be convinced the idea can from above.

 

I think that idea was forced on Bloom, so I don't view it as Bloom's choice. I do not remember him as "that guy."

 

[Old Red]

Every single person on this board has been saying that. And probably everyone on all the other thousands of Red Sox forums throughout the internet..

 

Wrong answer as usual. There have been posters on here the last 3 years that have said to put him into the rotation.

[moonslav59]

The question is: Did John Henry hire him to do it ?

 

I don't think it was a reason to hire him, and I'm not even sure he told him before hiring him, but he probably did.

 

Bloom was hired, IMO, to try and be the next Billy Beene with a bigger budget.

[notin]

Wrong answer as usual. There have been posters on here the last 3 years that have said to put him into the rotation.

 

Name one...

[Old Red]

It is known that DD was about to trade Betts back in 2019, but a winning stretch forced the idea to be tabled.

 

I think it is a safe bet to think there is no way DD wanted to trade Betts, so I think that is enough evidence, for me, to be convinced the idea can from above.

 

I think that idea was forced on Bloom, so I don't view it as Bloom's choice. I do not remember him as "that guy."

 

 

There were all kinds of speculations, and reports out there, and one at least said Bloom was never told that he had to trade Betts.

[Old Red]

Name one...

 

You look it up yourself. There are 3 years of post to look at, so go do something constructive that will take you off some bandwagons you like to jump on.

[dgalehouse]

Billy Beane , the flim-flam man. Money Ball . Book deal. Movie deal. Piece of the ownership. Never won a championship. Now, leave a mess in Oakland and on to Vegas. A fake, phony fraud.

[moonslav59]

Billy Beane , the flim-flam man. Money Ball . Book deal. Movie deal. Piece of the ownership. Never won a championship. Now, leave a mess in Oakland and on to Vegas. A fake, phony fraud.

 

He was not hired to win a ring, if that matters.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

It is known that DD was about to trade Betts back in 2019, but a winning stretch forced the idea to be tabled.

 

I think it is a safe bet to think there is no way DD wanted to trade Betts, so I think that is enough evidence, for me, to be convinced the idea can from above.

 

I think that idea was forced on Bloom, so I don't view it as Bloom's choice. I do not remember him as "that guy."

 

 

Bloom will always be remembered as THE guy who traded Mookie, and he deserves it -- if he accepted the job offer as CBO with the understanding that his first order of business would be dealing Betts and Price.

 

Maybe someday he'll publish memoirs that swear he had no idea, until some secret meeting in his first week in office.

 

Meanwhile, there'll only be one Yale grad CBO who looked misled (at least publicly) by ownership since the day he was hired.

[moonslav59]

Bloom will always be remembered as THE guy who traded Mookie, and he deserves it -- if he accepted the job offer as CBO with the understanding that his first order of business would be dealing Betts and Price.

 

Maybe someday he'll publish memoirs that swear he had no idea, until some secret meeting in his first week in office.

 

Meanwhile, there'll only be one Yale grad CBO who looked misled (at least publicly) by ownership since the day he was hired.

 

I can understand why many people see it that way. He was the guy who pulled the trigger, so it is what it is.

 

It does make me wonder, how the views of DD and Bloom might be very different, now, if DD had pulled that trigger in the summer of '19.

 

In my view, they hired Bloom to try and build a winner without spending much. They hoped he could repeat what the rays had done, but with a higher budget, maybe win a ring, unlike TBR.

 

He failed at that task, pretty spectacularly, 2021 notwithstanding.

 

I do think Bloom had some spending limits no other Sox GM had, in terms of a full 4 year stretch, although we often heard there was not a limit. (Like we should believe that crap.) Bloom did spend some money, and he swung and missed on most of his bigger deals. He failed to get every pitcher he made offers to and signed for more than $10M. That was the worst mistake, IMO. (Nate or Eflin would have helped his legacy, but likely was not enough to save his ass.)

 

Story, Yoshida, Barnes, Richards, Kluber and Kike II were 5 of his largest contracts given out, and now the Jansen one is looking sketchy, too.

 

His lower to mid level deals were not so bad, but you rarely win rings on those guys, and we didn't.

[notin]

I can understand why many people see it that way. He was the guy who pulled the trigger, so it is what it is.

 

It does make me wonder, how the views of DD and Bloom might be very different, now, if DD had pulled that trigger in the summer of '19.

 

In my view, they hired Bloom to try and build a winner without spending much. They hoped he could repeat what the rays had done, but with a higher budget, maybe win a ring, unlike TBR.

 

He failed at that task, pretty spectacularly, 2021 notwithstanding.

 

I do think Bloom had some spending limits no other Sox GM had, in terms of a full 4 year stretch, although we often heard there was not a limit. (Like we should believe that crap.) Bloom did spend some money, and he swung and missed on most of his bigger deals. He failed to get every pitcher he made offers to and signed for more than $10M. That was the worst mistake, IMO. (Nate or Eflin would have helped his legacy, but likely was not enough to save his ass.)

 

Story, Yoshida, Barnes, Richards, Kluber and Kike II were 5 of his largest contracts given out, and now the Jansen one is looking sketchy, too.

 

His lower to mid level deals were not so bad, but you rarely win rings on those guys, and we didn't.

 

 

That's basically it. He wasn't supposed to spend much, and Mookie was rather pricey. And outside of Devers, he really did not.

 

Story and Yoshida were expensive, but these were not upper echelon contracts. And Yoshida was signed in an offseason where 8-12 year deals were being handed out like Halloween candy, and his deal was still only 5 years. Although it will seem longer if he doesn't get hit hitting together.

 

The Sox are still spending near the middle of the pack, but that number will probably drop precipitously. After this year, the only deals on the books with an AAV higher than $6mill will be Devers, Story, Yoshida and Giolito (assuming he does not opt out, which is a very, very unlikely event). And the only players eligible for arbitration after this year are Joely Rodriguez and Reese McGuire. I expect (hope) Rodriguez will be non-tendered, and there is a non-zero chance McGuire is as well, assuming he is not simply traded...

Edited April 17, 2024 by notin

[notin]

You look it up yourself. There are 3 years of post to look at, so go do something constructive that will take you off some bandwagons you like to jump on.

 

I just want a name, not a link to the post. I log on here more than I care to admit, and I haven't seen anyone who wanted Whitlock in the rotation. Plenty of people who expected him to be (myself included), but none of them wanted him there...

[redsoxrules]

Whitlock is officially on the 15 day DL which will probably end up being more

[notin]

Whitlock is officially on the 15 day DL which will probably end up being more

 

And to make matters worse - Jacques is back...

[redsoxrules]

And to make matters worse - Jacques is back...

 

In 4IP with Worcester- 8 hits, 7ER, 6BB which translate to 3.5 WHIP. This should bold well when he comes to pitch